Fielder&#39;s glove



Aug. 20, 1929. F. J. ARMSTRONG FIELDERS GLOVE 2 SheetsSheet 1 Filed Jan. 1928 61am M11 Aug- 1929- F. J. ARM STRONG 1,725,727

FIELDERS GLOVE Filed Jan. 1928 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 fly M J firms fig/7g,

mac/"tor Patented Aug. 20, 1929.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

FRANK J. ARMSTRONG, OF NEWBURGH, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR, BY DIRECT AND MESNE ASSIGNMENTS, TO A. .T.- REACH COMPANY, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYL- VANIA, A CORPORATION OF PENNSYLVANIA.

FIELDERS GLOVE.

Application filed January 9, 1928. Serial No. 245,581.

This invention relates to an improvement in gloves and more particularly to a baseball glove for fielders use.

It is a well known fact that, in attempting to catch a batted or thrown ball, which requires the fielder to either make the catch while running or reach for the ball With his right hand, the players on the opposing team who are at bat or on bases, gain advantages due to the passage of the ball between the thumb and forefinger of the fielders hand and his consequent inability to hold the ball. Therefore the present invention has as its primary object to provide a baseball glove for fielders use embodying means for effectually overcoming this disadvantage, the invention contemplating the provision of a flexible barrier upon the glove in such position as to permit the infielder wearing the glove to make catches which he might otherwise fail to make.

More specifically it is an object of the present invention to provide, in a fielders glove, a novel arrangement of barrier strips of flexible material in which the strips extend between the thumb and forefinger of the glove and occupy such a position and are so relatively arranged and supported, as to enable them to serve as a pocket for a ball striking the hand at this point or an approximate point.

Another object of the invention is to provide a fielders glove of such construction that it will enable a fielder, wearing the same, to attempt and accomplish catches which, in all probability, could not be made by the use of the ordinary glove.

Another object of the invention is to so form and arrange the barrier strips that they will conform closely to the surface contour of the ball, so that, in efiect, a pocket is automatically formed between the thumb and forefinger of the hand at the moment of impact of the ball with the hand.

Another object of the invention is to so construct the barriers. and so arrange the same that they will. in no way interfere with delivery of the ball from the players hand when the ball is thrown after the catch.

lVhile the accompanying drawings and the description which is to follow, constitute a disclosure of the preferred embodiment of the invention, it will be understood that various changes may be made within the scope of what is claimed.

In the accompanying drawings:

Figure 1 is a fragmentary front view of a fielders glove constructed in accordance with the invention, so much of the glove being illustrated as is necessary to an understanding of the invention;

Figure 2 is a similar view of the rear side of the glove;

Figure 3 is a perspective view of the glove, the thumb and finger stalls of the glove being arranged in the positions which they will assume in the act of catching a ball and under the conditions above recited, the ball being shown in broken lines in said figure;

Figure 4 is a vertical sectional View taken in a plane beside the inner side of the thumb stall illustrating the barrier strips in the positions and shapes which they will assume at the time of impact of a ball therewith, the ball being shown in broken lines;

Figure 5 is a plan view of one of the barrier strips in blank form;

Figure 6 is a plan view of the other barrier strip in blank form.

In the drawings the thumb, index, and middle finger stalls of the glove are indicated respectively by the numerals, 1, 2 and 3 and are,

Generally speaking the invention contemplates the provision of spaced barrier strips which extend between the thumb and index finger stalls of the glove, and, if desired, a continuation of one of the said barrier strips, which is extended between the tip ends of the said stalls, so as to extend likewise between the index and middle finger stalls of the glove, and inthe drawings the outer one of the barrier strips is indicated in general by the numeral 5 and is preferably formed from a blank of leather of substantially the marginal contour shown in Figure 5 of the drawings, the said blank, for the major portion of its length, being of approximately uniform width and having its outer longitudinal edge, at its outer end, extended on a curved line as indicated by the numeral 6, so that this edge portion will conform more or less closely to the contour of the seam of the thumb stall 1 at the outer end of the stall, this end of the said strip, comprising the blank, being united by a line of stitching 7, to the said thumb stall substantially along the line of extent of the seam which unites the plies of the thumb stall, at the outer end of said stall, the said end of the strip being further united to the rear orouter ply of the thumb stall by a line of stitching 8 which extends on an arcuate line between the ends of the line of stitching 7 and is preferably continuous therewith or in other words formed in the same opera tion as that by which the line of stitching 7 is formed. It will be observed at this point that the line of stitching 8 is extended on a line curving downwardly and laterally outwardly from the inner upper end of the line of stitching? to the lower end of said line of stitching 7. The portion of the strip 5 referred to above and which portion is indicated specifically by the numeral 9, is united, at its other end, to the rear or outer side of the index finger stall 2 of the glove by an arcuate line of stitching 10 which is preferably passed substantially through the seam uniting the front and rear blanks of the finger stall, another line of stitching, indicated by the numeral 11, and corresponding to the line of sitching 8 above referred to, being likewise run through the said end of the strip 5 and the rear blank of the index finger stall 2 along a curved line extending betweenthe upper and lower ends of the line of stitching 10,

as best shown in Figure 2 of the drawings.

It will now be observed that due to this peculiar manner of securing the said portion 9 of the barrier strip 5 to the thumb and in dex finger stalls of the glove, the free lower marginal portion of the strip is of greater length than the free upper marginal portion, and as willbe observed by reference to F gures 3 and 4 of the drawings, this permlts of a rearward dlsplacement of the lower marginal portion of the barrier strip 5 to a greater distance, at the moment of impact of the ball with said strip, than is had by the upper marginal portion of said strip, at such time, and the advantage gained by reason of this construction, will presently be more specifically pointed out.

The other portion. of the barrier strip 5, is indicated by the numeral 12 and, as will be observed by reference to the drawings, is tapered toward its intermediate portion,

' from its juncture with the inner end of the portion 9 of said strip, as indicated by the numeral 13, and has a relatively broad outer end portion 14 from which the portion 12 likewise tapered toward its intermediate portion, the said portion 14 having a rounded outer edge 15 conforming substantially to the contour of the tip of the middle finger stall 3 of the glove. The said end portion 14L of the barrier strip portion 12 is united to the rear or outer middle finger stall blank by means of an arcuate line of stitching 16 and a lower or inner transverse line of stitching 17 as clearly shown in Figure 2 of the drawings. By reference to Figures 1 and 2 of the drawings it will be observed that the portion 9 of the barrier strip 5 is of a length approximately equal to the distance between the outer portions of the thumb and index finger stalls of the glove in the fully spread position assumed by these stalls when the thumb and index finger of the fieldfs hand are extended in the act of catching a ball, and it will likewise be observed by reference to these figures that the portion 12 of the said barrier strip 5 is of sufficient length to permit of considerable separation of the index and middle fin gers of the hand.

In accordance with the invention, a sec- 0nd barrier strip, indicated by the numeral 18, is provided between the thumb and index finger stalls of the glove, and this barrier strip is preferably of rawhide, the strip being preferably formed from a blank of substantially the contour shown in Figure 6 of the drawings and which blank is folded longitudinally medially on the broken line in said figure, the end edges of the blank being each cut along lines at an obtuse angle to each other, so that, when the blank is folded, that edge of the strip 18, which is thus formed, and which is represented by the fold in the blank, is presented outwardly toward the inner edge of the portion 9 of the barrier strip 5 and the other edge of the strip which is represented by the shorter longitudinal edges of the folded blank, is presented toward and in spaced relation with respect to the thumb crotch of the glove, the end portions of the said strip being inserted and secured in the relatively adjacent seams of the thumb and index finger stalls. At this point it will be evident that due to the peculiar formation of the blank from which the barrier strip 18 is formedgand the manner in which this strip is connected to the thumb and index finger stalls of the glove, the upper edge of the strip is of greater length than ly parallel relation thereto as shown in Fig ures 1 and 2 of the drawings. By reference to Figure 4, it will be observed, at this point, that due to the fact that the upper edge portion of the barrier strip 18 is of greater length than the lower or inner edge portion of said strip, and the strip is of rawhide and therefore yieldable, this edge portion of the stripmay yield to a greater extent than the inner edge portion upon impact of a ball with the two barrier strips.

In order that the yielding movement of the lower portion of the portion 9 of the bar- 'rier strip 5 and the upper portion of the of the ply comprising the barrier strip 18 and these strings are extended beside the inner seams of the thumb and index finger stalls 1 and 2 and are each passed through a pair of openings 21 formed in the said portion 9 of the barrier strip 5 adjacent the thumb or index finger stall, as the case may be, the ends of each string being knotted as at 22, between the respective openings 21, at the rear side of the said portion of the barrier strip as best shown in Figures 2 and 1 of the drawings.

From the foregoing description of the invention it will be evident that in the event of impact of a ball with the glove embodying the invention, at such a point, or with such force as would, except for the provision of the barrier strips of the invention, result in the passage of the ball between the thumb and index finger of the catcher, the ball will, by reason of the provision of these barrier strips, be pocketed as shown in Figures 3 and 4 of the drawings, due to the rearward yielding of the lO\ er and upper margins of the portion 9 of the barrier strip 5 and the barrier strip 18, respectively. Therefore, due to the provision of these barrier strips, a fielder is enabled to catch and retain his hold on balls which might otherwise escape from his hand with considerable advantage to the team at bat. It will likewise be evident from the foregoing description of the invention that this yielding of the barrier strips is restricted at the time the said marginal portions of the strips have been displaced a sufficient distance to pocket the ball, so that at this moment the strips are reinforced and braced so as to prevent the strips being torn loose from the glove at the moment of impact. It will also be evident from the foregoing description and from the drawings, that due to the provision of the portion 12 of the barrier strip 5, the index finger of the fielder is prevented from being subjected to undue strain at the momentof impact of the ball with the hand, in-

asmuoh as a considerable portion of the force of impact is transmitted, through the said portion 12 of the barrier strip 5, to the middle finger of the fielder, due to the extension of this portion of said strip between the index and middle finger stalls of the glove.

It will furthermore be evident from the foregoing description and from the drawings that a ball caught, by the use of the glove, and lodging against the portion 9 of the barrier strip 5 and the barrier strip 18, at

the moment of impact of the ball with the glove, may be readily thrown by the fielder without any effort being made to reposition the ball in the hand, inasmuch as the ball is at such time in proper position to be voluntarily grasped for throwing and will leave the glove without any interference on the part of the barrier strips or the strings 19 which extend between said strips.

If desired, the extension of the barrier strip 5 which extends between the index and middle finger stalls, may be omitted, although, as set forth above, this extension presents a decided advantage. Also, if desired, the position of the inner barrier strip which extends between the thumb and index finger stalls, may be varied with respect to the outer strip, and likewise the dimensions of all of the strips may be varied as desired.

Having thus described the invention, what I claim is:

1. A baseball glove including, in combination with its thumb and index finger stalls, a flexible barrier strip extending between the stalls, the said strip being united at its ends to the outer faces of the ends of the stalls along lines diverging inwardly from the ends of the fingers, whereby the lower portion of the barrier strip is of greater length than the upper portion thereof.

2. 'A baseball glove including, in combination with its thumb and index finger stalls, a barrier strip of flexible material extending between said stalls and united at each end to the respective stall by meeting curvilinear lines of stitching, the relatively adjacent lines of stitching at the two ends of the barrier strips curving from the outer ends of the stalls in the directionof the relatively remote sides of the stalls, whereby the inner marginal portion of the strip is of greater length than the outer marginal portion of the strip.

8. A baseball glove including, in combination with its thumb and index finger stalls, a flexible barrier member extending between the stalls adjacent their outer ends, a flexible barrier member extending between the stalls adjacent the thumb crotch and spaced with respect to the first mentioned member, and flexible connections extending between said barrier members intermediate of the thumb and finger stalls.

4. A baseball glove including, in combination with its thumb and index finger stalls, a flexible barrier strip extending between the stalls adjacent the outer ends thereof and having its effective inner margin of greater length than its outer effective margin, a second barrier strip extending between the stalls near the crotch and having its outer effective margin of greater length than its inner effective margin.

5. A baseball glove including in combination with its thumb and index finger stalls, a flexible barrier strip extending between the stalls adjacent theouter ends thereof and having its effective inner margin of greater length than its outer effective margin, a second barrier strip extending between the stalls near the crotch and having its outer effective margin of greater length than its inner effective margin, and flexible means extending between said strips for limiting the displacement of the longer effective marginal portions thereof.

6. A baseball glove including, in combination With its thumb and index finger stalls, a flexible barrier strip extending between the stalls adjacent the outer ends thereof, a second barrier strip extending between said stalls adjacent the crotch, the last mentioned strip comprising a blank of flexible material folded longitudinally and having its fold edge presented toward the inner edge of the first mentioned strip, the plies of the second mentioned barrier strip having registering openings therein adjacent the ends of said strip, the first mentioned barrier strip having openings therein located in pairs adjacent the outer margin thereof and the ends thereof, and flexible reinforcing elements threaded through the openings of the second mentioned strip and through respective pairs of the openings in the first mentioned strip.

7. A baseball glove including, in combination with its thumb and index finger stalls, outer and inner barrier strips, and element-s connecting said inner and outer strips between the stalls, said elements being arranged respectively parallel to the stalls and in diverging relation to each other.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature.

FRANK J. ARMSTRONG. 

